Yesterday
by Fabro de Verbis
Summary: When Lloyd comes to spend the weekend at Sensei Wu's school, he does not expect to shrink! The cause: Tomorrow's Tea. It only works for a short time! As the ninja turn back into kids,who will battle the nindroids? R&R? Constructive criticism appreciated. No flames or swearing plz!
1. the beginning

**Hello world! This is my first story, so hope you like it! I've always loved the ninja as kids, but I didn't want to make another Mega-weapon story. This is the result!**

Lloyd's POV

I opened my eyes as the lightning surged through my veins. "Ninja go!" I shot to my feet, shifted into a fighting stance, and harnessed the Power of the Golden Dragon. A protective aura surrounded me like a golden bubble. My enemies circled at a safe distance, hesitant to get too close.

One of the four broke apart from his group and flipped over me with the speed of wind. His weapon missed my head by a quarter inch, and he summersaulted to his feet when he landed. Taking a risky move, I whipped around and shot a fireball at him before turning back to face my other opponents.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhh! Help me! I'm on fire!" the navy-clad figure ran around screaming. His partners chortled in amusement.

"Hold on," laughed one of his companions. He darted forward, keeping a wary eye on me. The newcomer grabbed a nearby bucket and doused the flames. With effort, he hauled the smoldering man away from the battlefield.

While the others were distracted, I was concentrating my energy into one part of the golden sphere. A icy beam shot itself at the leader's feet. He turned to face me in surprise, and found his lower body encased in ice. I hurled a shuriken at him, knocking the sharp scythe from his hands. That put the black one out of the fight. _Two down, two to go._

The remaining pair advanced upon me warily. I smirked, and unleashed the power inside of me. The sky became black, and a streak of lightning flashed over our battleground. It tore across the atmosphere like a knife, and struck the white figure in his torso. He started twitching and fell on his side, sparks flying.

Now only one was left. He tore off his mask, sweat pouring from his spiky head. His eyes were burning with passion, and I knew his emotions were his weaknesses. My glow died down, and I picked up the leader's fallen scythe. My attacker's katana sliced through the air, and I blocked it skillfully with the handle. While he was still off balance, I poured my energy into the scythe and sunk it into the earth. Tremors ran across the battleground, and my adversary fell into a semi-deep pit. I strutted over to gloat at him.

"Nice going Lloyd," said Kai begrudgingly. He glared up from the hole in mock anger.

"Thanks!" I beamed. "You should go help Cole. I don't think he's having a very ice day."

Kai raised an eyebrow, but he laughed as well. "Can you help me out?"

I used my golden powers to create stair steps, and he climbed out and walked over to Cole.

Jay came out of the building, wearing a fresh kimono. "Wow," he laughed, surveying the dilapidated battlefield. "What happened here?"

"Never mind that!" called Cole. "Just get over here and fix ol' tin can!"

"Careful with that scythe, Cole!" I warned. "It still might have some golden energy stored!"

Cole smiled. He pretended to fight an invisible foe and dug the blade into the ground. The earth quaked gently as the last of the energy left the weapon. "Just like old times," he said happily.

Jay closed the ice ninja's panel, and Zane got up to stretch.

Kai sighed. "I'm glad you were able to come over for the weekend," he said.

"Same here," I replied. Ever since the overlord was defeated, I toured the country getting rewards. It was fun for a while, but it soon got boring. I was more than happy to come when the ninja invited me and my parents over to their school for the weekend. I guessed they were happy school was out!

"I'm hungry," called Jay. "Fighting always drains me. Who's cooking?"

A few hours later, all of us were gathered in the dining room. Unfortunately, it was Cole's night to cook. He came out of the kitchen, with something rather fetid smoking in his gloved hands. He dished us each out a big serving. I used my fork to poke around in the glop on my plate. Jay sneezed all over me, and I dropped my utensil. I slipped under the table, knocking my plate over in the process in trying to find it. While out of sight, I summoned up my earth power, turning the already charred stuff on my plate into dust.

When I returned, Cole smiled at my empty plate. "Lloyd gets a slice of cake tonight; it's my secret recipe!" I gagged inwardly, his cake was terrible!

Sensei walked in at that moment, graciously sparing me from the impending cake poisoning. "Time for bed, students," he said.

Usually I resented bedtimes -everyone knows that Golden ninja don't have bedtimes- but today I was more than ready for sleep.

I pushed my chair back from the table and stood up. _Strange, does the chair seem a bit bigger? _ I shrugged the thought off as a illusion.

After a extreme toothpaste war -in which we were all covered with minty goo- and a shower -to wash said goo off- I was finally ready for sleep.

"Night, guys," I yawned. I flopped onto my bed and burrowed under the sheets.

One by one, they drifted off into the dream world. I, on the other hand, couldn't fall sleep. In dismay, I stared at the ceiling and listened to the others' breathing. Cole's steady snores shook the small room like a bulldozer. Kai was panting, and Zane could not be heard. Jay was whimpering slightly in his bunk. All of the noises filled the room with an eerie cacophony. I felt like moving to the hallway, but I was too exhausted to actually go through with the plan. My mind processed information like a computer, and I realized that my limbs were aching.

"Ugh," I moaned quietly. My hands massaged my leg in a feeble attempt to reduce the dull throb. It helped some, but I still felt uncomfortable. Somehow, I fell asleep that night. I woke the next morning to a great surprise.

**I'm going to include a riddle, tell me the answer in the reviews!**

**Riddle: Two girls ate dinner together. They both ordered ice tea. One girl drank them very fast and drank five of them in the time it took the other to drink one. The girl who drank one died while the other survived. All of the drinks were poisoned.**

**Why d****id the girl that drank more ice tea survive?**


	2. Can Anyone Explain?

**Oh my gosh, thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Two favorites?! Well I was cleaning today, and I suddenly stopped and said to myself, "I forgot something!" Guess what people? I don't own Ninjago! Hope you enjoy this!**

Sensei's POV

Light filtered in through the windows, and birds sang lazily as they glided in circles around the yard. Misako, Garmadon, and I were seated around a large, round table in the kitchen.

"It's so good to be here, Wu," Misako was saying. "The last time I was here was when Lloyd was a baby..." Her voice trailed off.

"You made the right choice," consoled Garmadon. "What kind of a life would he have lead if he stayed in the underworld with me, or traveled around with you?"

Misako sighed. "All the same, I wish I'd seen him growing up. All those years I missed..."

I cleared my throat. "I should go and wake up my students."

Garmadon rose as well. "I'll come with you."

We walked down the hallway to my students' room, where all five of them were still sleeping soundly. Ever since Lloyd destroyed the alarm clock, I made it my duty to wake them personally with my gong.

"You can go on ahead," I told my brother. "I need to get my gong."

Garmadon raised an eyebrow, but he didn't protest.

I turned away from him, went down a narrow corridor, and unlocked the closet door that stored the metal disk. After re-locking the door, I walked back up the hallway towards my students' bedroo.

When I entered, my brother was stooped down next to Lloyd's bed. His body was tense and he started when he heard me come in.

"Wu!" His voice was strained in a panicked whisper.

Garmadon was almost never unsettled, so I knew it must be serious.

"What is the matter, brother?" I knelt beside him.

"It's Lloyd. I don't know what happened!"

"What do you mean?"

Garmadon wordlessly pulled back the covers of Lloyd's bed; I gasped in shock. A boy of about ten years was sleeping soundly. He was in green pajamas a few sizes too large, and his messy blonde hair fell into his closed eyes. _Lloyd! What happened?_

"He's a child!"

"I can see that," my brother snapped. "But the question is, why?"

"Wake up Zane, Garmadon. He might know what happened," I finally decided.

"Get up now," my brother ordered in a stressed whisper. "Something has happened to Lloyd!"

Zane opened his eyes and sat up quickly. "What is wrong with Lloyd? Is he sick?"

"Come over here," I beckoned. "You'll need to see it yourself."

Zane drew close and peered at the sleeping child.

"He is a child," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, yes, I know!" Garmadon hissed impatiently. "But why is he like that?"

Zane cowered a bit, and resumed his scan. "He got caught in a tea explosion, correct?" When I nodded, he continued. "It appears the Tomorrow's Tea only lasts for a short amount of time. The effects wore off, thus transforming him back to his original state."

I nodded, satisfied with the explanation.

"Wake the others," Garmadon decided. "They must know."

Zane walked off, and I gently shook Lloyd.

"W-what is it, uncle?" He blinked his eyes sleepily.

"Something happened last night," I began. "It appears tomor-"

I was rudely cut off by a high, raspy voice. "What happened! Oh no! Why me!"

"Jay?" Lloyd opened his emerald eyes to find a mini, wide-eyed, screaming Jay in his face.

Wait, mini Jay? Jay shrieked again, and raced off to the other end of the room. With one swift glance, I could easily see this situation was getting off the hand. Jay was bouncing off the walls, Cole and Kai were chasing him, Zane was debating with my brother, and Lloyd was starting to realize what happened.

"Everyone! Meet me in the kitchen! Now!"

Everyone paused comically, mouths hanging open in mid-rant, and trudged into the kitchen where Nya -the responsible one- was making pancakes.

"What was that racket?"

"I'll explain soon," I promised.

I sat down and found myself staring at Jay, who was across the table. The problem was, only Jay's forehead was visible. "Cole, find something for Jay and Lloyd to sit on."

Cole fetched pillows for Jay and Lloyd, sat down, and promptly wolfed down his breakfast.

"Now would anyone care to explain what happened?" Lloyd asked, wide awake now.

I moaned inwardly. _How am I gonna do this?_ I resigned myself to my fate and began to talk.

**The answer to the last riddle was: the poison was in the middle of the ice! Imaginary gold stars to Secret Agent Alanshee! A bunch of you guys got it though! The next one is:**

** Take away my first letter, and I still sound the same. Take away my last letter, I still sound the same. Even take away my letter in the middle, I will still sound the same. I am a five letter word. What am I?**


	3. A daring mission (not)

**Update people! I am ****_so _****glad you all like this! Review please!**

Jay's POV (Bear with me!)

So, Sensei said I'm a kid because Tomorrow's Tea only works for a short time. And I'm wondering, _what nut job invented that stuff?_ Apparently, the youngest turn back quicker, but if you are acting mature then the transformance can be slowed. That was the reason why Cole wasn't a kid yet, he'd explained.

Nya finished washing the dishes and turned around so she could look at me. "Aww, Jay! You are so cute as a kid!"

I stared dreamily back at her. _So pretty..._

Kai looked uncomfortable, probably either from Lloyd and I being kids, or how I was gawking at his sister. I'm gonna guess the second one.

"Well today's Saturday, so there's no school for two days."

Sensei nodded knowingly. "I suggest Cole and Nya should take Jay and Lloyd shopping for some new clothes. Misako, Garmadon, and I will look for a solution to this dilemma."

"Can't you just use Tomorrow's Tea again?" Kai asked impatiently.

"No," Garmadon remarked. "If used more than once, the being will grow very old and die within a week."

"What shall Kai and I do?" inquired Zane.

"Kai can look after the kids, and you will work in the kitchen," decided Cole. He snickered. "After all, he's had experience with the human piñata."

"Yes I ha- wait a minute! I am not gonna be a human piñata again!"

"How else are you gonna entertain the kids then?"

"Monopoly?"

"Kai, Monopoly is a game for two to six players," informed Zane.

"What about a movie?"

"Okay."

With that settled, everyone looked satisfied with their roles.

"Now go change," Nya ordered, shooing me out the door.

I sulked into the bedroom with Lloyd and started rummaging through the drawers.

"All of this stuff is way too big!"

Lloyd was digging through a small drawer, when his hand struck something with a quiet thump.

"What's this?" I dashed over to his side.

A small lever was partially hidden by socks, which reeked of sweat and..._was that blood? _ I didn't want to know.

"You know how this used to be "Darkly's School for Bad Boys"?"

I nodded slowly, recalling the time when Pythor and Lloyd worked together.

"Well, all evil schools have booby traps and such! I remember this one! It opens a tunnel into one of the rooms our students are in!"

"So _that's_ how they put spiders in my bed!"

"Don't you see?" Lloyd gushed. "We can take some of their clothes while they are sleeping and use them!"

"Oh, yeah!"

Without wasting another moment, I reached into the drawer and yanked the lever. Nothing happened.

"Broken."

I released the handle sadly. At that moment, the floor underneath us disappeared and I fell into a tunnel! I staggered to my feet and brushed myself down. I was standing in a dimly lit passage, with smaller tunnels stretching every way.

"That way!" Lloyd shouted.

I raced after him, shying away from the walls, which were covered with spiders. _Spiders are nasty!_ The tunnel grew steadily smaller, and I was soon crawling on my hands and knees. Rocks cut at my knuckles, and dust blinded my vision. When I was giving up hope of ever getting out, the passage widened! Thank goodness! When I caught up with Lloyd, he was standing next to another lever.

"Well pull it already!" I huffed.

He pulled the handle, and a portion of the wall slid open. I was silent as a mouse as I crept through the dark bedroom.

"Here!" Lloyd beckoned with his hand.

I crawled towards him, and carefully dug through the drawer until I reached a small sweater and XL sweat pants. In contrast, Lloyd pulled up a humongous t-shirt with ripped shorts a few sizes too slim. We crept back into the tunnel and raced to our bedroom.

"That went well!" Lloyd grinned.

I dusted myself off. "Ninja go!"

As I started spinning, it felt different. Like I was off balance or something. Whatever it was, I ended up smacking into the wall with my "new" clothes half-on.

"My spinjitzu! It's gone!"

**Brownie points to Secret Agent Alanshee! She guessed right again! The answer was, empty! The variations would be: mpty, empt, emty. The next one is:**

**A man was driving a black car. His lights were off. The moon shown no light. A cat was in the middle of the road. How did he know to stop?**

**In addition, I need more riddles! So if u are able to, pm me your best! The rules are:**

**1-the submitter CAN NOT answer if their riddle is picked.**

**2-the riddles MUST be k+ appropriate.**

**3-try to do LESS KNOWN ones! Like most people will instantly know (forgive me) how did the chicken cross the road? **


	4. Shopping

**Here's chapter four! I decided to do a Nya POV, I hope you like it! Did I do her character alright? Leave a review!**

Nya's POV

"For the fiftieth time, we are not there yet!"

Lloyd sighed and resumed his game with Jay. They were looking out the windows of the bus, trying to spot the whole alphabet on license plates. After all this time, I was just starting to remember kids were a whole lot more than fun and games.

"We're almost there," reassured Cole from behind the wheel.

I couldn't help but wonder, _was he reassuring the kids or himself_?

A half-hour later, I was standing in front of _Jamanakai Jaz_z, which was the newest store in the village. Jay insisted on going there, so he could pick up the newest Star-farer book. Everyone raved about the store, saying it had all the latest trends. When I walked inside, I could see why. It really did have everything! Popular clothes hung on racks, stuffed animals were crammed in cases, and a Perfect Match Consul sat against one wall.

As we walked in, a bell rang and a pretty young woman appeared behind the counter.

"Hello!" she lilted. "Welcome to _Jamanakai Jazz_! We have all the latest trends in the world! My name is Sheila! How may I be at your service?"

I blinked in surprise, it wasn't everyday someone was that enthusiastic! Seeing my flustered face, Cole stepped in and cleared his throat.

"Um, where are your boys clothes? We brought two nine year olds with us who badly need new outfits." With a wave he gestured to Jay and Lloyd, who happened to be squabbling over a small piece of candy.

"Right this way, sir!" the young lady happily replied.

We walked past the food, toys, and books, until we arrived at the boy clothing section.

"Thank you for your help," I smiled gratefully.

"Your welcome!"

Forty-five minutes later, we were standing in line, waiting to be checked out. A small hand tugged at my dress, and I looked down at Lloyd.

"Nya? I'm hungry!"

Cole turned around and smiled slowly. "Hi Hungry. I'm Cole."

"Hey!"

Cole laughed and ruffled Lloyd's hair. "We can stop for some pizza," he promised.

Lloyd beamed and ran over to Jay, who was deep into the star-farer comic world.

"We are going to get pizza!" he cheered.

"Uhuh," Jay muttered absentmindedly while he flipped a page.

Lloyd blinked. "Dude, don't you think you are a little too old for that?"

Jay raised his head defiantly for a short moment. "It makes me feel young, deal with it!"

"Ok, bro!" Lloyd lifted his hands in a defensive gesture.

The saleswoman checking us out smiled at their bickering.

"You guys have the silliest children," she remarked to me, bagging up our purchases.

I felt my face heat up instantly, and Cole's turned a deep shade of red.

"We aren't together!" I exclaimed hastily.

"Yeah! Um, we're looking after them! Babysitting!" Cole rambled.

"What?" Two higher pitched voices joined together in indignation.

"Ok, ok! No need to get all excited!" the woman protested.

Just then a loud crash sounded outside, so I turned my head to look out of the window. Autumn leaves swirled to the ground, and a large black bird was beating against the window glass.

"The Falcon?" I wondered.

_Wait_, I pondered. My mind whirled like gears. _The Falcon only comes to Zane, or people he sends it to when he needs help._

Without another word, I dashed outside and picked up the robotic bird. It quickly preened through it's feathers, and flew a short distance away. It's yellow eyes glowed blue, and a hologram appeared.

"Nya, Cole, Jay, and Lloyd!" Zane's usually expressionless face bore a slight smile. "If the Falcon has found you, come back to us as quickly as you are able too. Sensei might of found a solution to our dilemma!"

**Ooh, what's that? Leave a review if you think you know what Zane is talking about! As for the riddles, Secret Agent Alanshee got the answer first, again! Is she just gonna go unchallenged? Anywho, kudos to her! The answer was: it was a bright and sunny day. This riddle I'm using was submitted by Sketchrex. It's great! Reminder, the submitter can't answer, that would just be unfair. So sorry! **

**A poor man is sitting on the sidewalk next to a rich man.  
The poor man says, "I can sing any song in the world!" The rich man laughs. The poor man says, "I am willing to bet you all your money that I can sing a popular song that includes a lady's name or your choosing."**

**The rich man laughs again. "Try my daughter, Joanna Armstrong-MIller." he says.**

**The poor man goes home rich.  
What song did he sing?**


	5. Tea logic

**Early update! I will usually update anywhere from three to seven days. I'm on a roll now, so expect a new chappie soon! Randomness Girl, thank you for pointing out that I forgot to tell you guys the answer to the riddle! Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I could live on reviews! (Hint hint)**

Garmadon's POV

"Isn't this your... thirty-eighth cup of tea?" I asked, pouring Wu yet another glass.

"Thirty-ninth, actually." Zane was at a computer, websites and programs flashing on the screen as he downloaded data from his hard drive. Everyone was sifting through information, trying to find something, someone, that could help us out.

My brother lifted his head from the ancient scroll he was dissecting. "One can never drink too much tea."

I turned to glare at the Ice Ninja. "Aren't you supposed to be cooking?"

"I finished all the preparations two hours and fifty-six minutes ago," he replied smoothly. "And since I could be of use in other ways, I came to help here."

My hand itched for a face-clamp, but I restrained myself. T_hat's what you get for accusing a robot_, I mentally chided.

"I need more tea," ordered Wu.

"Why?" I asked, preparing myself for the lecture that was sure to follow.

"Because all people need liquids. Some liquids are tea. Therefore, all people need tea! Besides, I'm your little brother! Won't you be kind and fetch me some tea?"

"Umm, are you sure that's logic?" questioned Misako. "Isn't that a 'all x are y' fallacy and an appeal to pity?"

"Who cares about logic! Just get me tea!"

"Okay!"

I stormed out of the room and walked towards the kitchen, pondering over the sudden twist in my life. O_ne moment I'm trying to take over Ninjago, and the next, I'm fetching my brother some tea! _I walked through the dining room, passing by Kai and his charges. They were watching Despicable Me, and all the kids sat in rapt attention.

"Hey!" shouted one, Gene, I think. "Why don't we steal the moon!"

I rolled my eyes and, upon entering the kitchen, turned on the colossal tea pot. All sorts of tea flavors lined the shelves, from things like Chive, Lemon, and Green to others like Traveler's Tea. I scooped up a handful of Camomile leaves and steeped them into a large cupful. Seconds later, I walked back into the study room with Wu's tea.

My wife looked up from the scroll she was carefully examining. "Oh, hi Garmadon. Listen to what I found. Apparently, this is a very rare case we have on our hands. This phenomenon has only occurred a total of four times -counting this one- since most people don't have a need to use Tomorrow's Tea. Two of the people retook the tea, and grew extremely ill and died of unknown causes the same week. The third one is still alive, a woman of 78, and she lives in Ignacia."

"Ignacia?" questioned Wu.

Misako nodded.

""Well, let us pay her a visit." Zane swiveled around in his chair. "She might have a idea on returning them back to normal."

"Finally!" I groaned. "A good thought for once! Zane call Nya and Cole in."

Zane's bird thingy hopped onto his arm, and the nindroid whispered several sentences to it. It eventually nodded, stretched it's wings, and soared off into the clear sky.

Dusk had fallen by the time my son got back, so we ate and went to bed. The next day dawned bright and sunny, so I was in a good mood when I woke up the ninja.

"So, what is this solution?" asked Cole, shoveling down Zane's bacon and eggs.

"A woman who lives in Ignacia," answered Misako, shying away from the bacon bits that spewed from his mouth. "She is the only living person who experienced this."

"You mean O'l Mags?" Kai took his feet off the table and began to look interested. "The old sickly woman?"

"Yes," I confirmed. "She took the tea, but somehow she is 78. That's surprising, for when the tea effects wear off, you are left at that age forever. So, even if you lived 81 years, you would die seemingly a 9 year old."

"Well, what are we waiting for!" exclaimed Lloyd, jumping down from his stool. "Let's pay her a visit!"

**Awe, let's pay a old woman a visit! Nothing could go wrong on the trip, right? Visit my profile to submit an answer to my poll about our next child! *Laughs evilly* Again, Alanshee got the riddle first! The answer was Happy Birthday! Internet cookies to her! (:.) (::). This riddle was submitted by Randomness Girl! **

**What won't break if you throw it off the highest building in the world, but will break if you place it in the ocean?**


	6. Perfect Sunday Afternoon

**Sorry this is a bit late, I just had some writers block! Read and review; Constructive Criticism is always appreciated. the wonderful guest reviewer, this takes place in reBooted, so Lloyd has been a teen for roughly three years. Seeing him as a kid is not as normal now.**

Kai's POV

_Concentrate, concentrate!_ I bit my bottom lip harder, punctuating the skin, and felt the metallic taste of blood fill my mouth. I was driving on a crumbling road, headed to Ignacia. It was a three hour drive to the village, and we'd only been traveling for a little over an hour. Small wildflowers bloomed in cracks, while thorny weeds threatened to pop my tires. I swerved just in time to avoid a group of ducks, who quaked indignantly at me before waddling off.

"This is taking forever!" Lloyd bemoaned.

"It is a long trip," sympathized Zane. "Especially on this bus!"

"Good thing we have Cheetos!" cheered Jay, appearing behind me so suddenly I almost hit a dilapidated guard rail. Everyone complained about my reckless steering, and I was starting to realize they might be a tiny bit right. _ I am _never_ driving on a long road trip again!_

"Can you stop that!" I growled in annoyance.

"Only if you buy me more Doritos at the next station," he argued.

"Ok," I hesitantly agreed. I reached my hand backwards to shake and seal the deal. That was a huge mistake.

The second my back was turned, a plump wild turkey decided to take a closer look at our bus. He lofted himself into the air, and promptly crashed through our windshield. Shards of glass and tufts of feathers flew everywhere! The turkey was squawking in my face, blocking my vision and messing my hair. Jay and Lloyd cowered behind some seats, while Sensei Wu just watched all this happen from his steaming cup of team looking slightly amused. Misako was desperately searching through some scrolls, probably looking for titles such as_ "How to dispose of wild turkeys that attack your bus"_ or_ "The Gold Ninja dies from a turkey attack_".

"We're headed for a bridge!" Nya warned fretfully.

The second the wheels hit the bridge, I knew we were done for. Shock absorbers? What were those? In this vehicle, you could feel every bump, dip, and jerk the road had to offer. The bus bounced unstably on the deteriorating concrete. Misako gasped somewhere behind me; it was hard to tell with a turkey pecking at my eyes.

"What is it!" I snapped. "Tell me!"

"Kai, there's a wide gap five feet in front of you!"

I slammed on the brakes, waiting painstakingly long moments as the bus slid rapidly forward, burning rubber, and slowly stopped right at the very edge. I ripped open my door, grabbed the turkey by his legs, and hurled him into the hole. _I hope he dies a very slow, agonizing death_. When I was sure the pest wasn't returning, I walked around the bus, inspecting it for any damage. There was a whole sackful. Most of the rubber on the tires was now spread across the cracking asphalt. Our windshield was shattered, most of the gas was gone, and to make matters worse, I think the radiator was fried.

I whipped out my iPhone and tried to dial a tow truck, but a message kept popping up, reading **"No Service"**. Nya tried her phone too.

"Zane, do you have wifi?"

Zane looked surprised. "I am a nindroid," he stated.

"Yes, but do you have wifi?" I pressed.

"Yes," he replied slowly. He touched his left wrist, and typed a few words onto the screen. "**Wifi activated"**.

"Thanks," I acknowledged hastily. I connected my phone to the wifi, which was called **J.F.Z**. _Weird name_, I reflected. Since we were out in the middle of nowhere, it took the tow truck half a hour to reach us. We spent the rest of the afternoon riding in a cramped truck. Perfect way to spend a Sunday.

**Guess what? This is a true turkey story! My poll will be up another five days or so, so vote on that! Again, Alanshee gets the brownies. [:::] The riddle answer was tissue. Today, I have two riddles! **

**1\. What do you think J.Z.F. stands for?**

**2\. Sketchrex made this riddle up! "I can be bought in a store. My DNA is typed into a box. My DNA can give you money. What am I?"**


	7. Unable to cope

**hi guys, writers block stinks! I hope you like this chapter, you probably won't. I'm about to leave for a camping trip, so I threw this together on the fly.**

Zane's POV

It felt strange, how the others were using me like a appliance. And such occurrences were happening more and more frequently. The other day, Jay hacked my system in order to replicate my power source for a mech of his. Cole tried to download cooking cheats off me, and even Nya asked to use my head as a lightbulb.

"Zane! Ninjago to Zane!" Jay waved his gloved hand in front of my eyes.

"What?" I asked, snapping back to the present.

"I said, we're here!" Jay rolled his eyes. "You robots and your blinking off," he mumbled under his breath.

I decided to ignore that last comment, and stepped out of the tow truck. The sun was just setting, and it's rays bathed the houses in a beautiful array of golds, pinks, and yellows.

"I suggest we get some sleep," Sensei Wu decided. "We have had a long day, and it would do us good to get some rest."

"Kai, do you know where the nearest hotel is?" asked Cole.

Kai snorted. "The only hotel here is over that way." He finished stretching his arms and went to rubbing his legs.

The hotel Kai pointed us to was called Universal Force, an older building with smiling snakes sketched onto the wooden walls of the lobby. The clerk gave us keys for the top floor, and all of us ninja basically flopped onto the beds and refused to move.

Like usual, I was the third one to wake up after Sensei Wu and Misako. _Something seems different_, I noticed; my sixth sense was going crazy. My eyes scanned first the walls, then the floor, and finally the beds. In our hotel, there were two bunk beds and a small trundle bed. Cole was beneath me, I knew. Lloyd was on the bottom bunk across from Cole, and Jay was sleeping in the trundle bed. Strangely enough, Kai's bed seemed empty, except for a small lump under the scratchy covers. My mind froze. _Oh no... _

Quietly, carefully, I crept out of my bed and glided down the ladder. The wooden floorboards in the hallway creaked beneath my feet, alerting Sensei Wu of my presence. He opened his door and beckoned me in.

"Kai has changed," I announced softly.

He only blinked. "I saw that last night."

"Should I awaken him?" I asked.

"Wait a few minutes," Sensei told me.

I nodded my acknowledgement, and slipped out. All was silent back in my room, until Kai woke up. Then screams broke out, tantrums were thrown, and the whole building was shaking.

"Oh no, this can't be happening, this can't be happening!" Kai grabbed Jay and shook him. "Tell me this is not happening!"

Jay laughed nervously. Kai growled and threw Jay across the room. Sensei Wu came in at that moment, calmly sipping tea like nothing had happened.

"Kai, calm down," he ordered. "Get dressed, and we will go and see O'l Mags."

One hour later, we were standing outside a small, thatched cottage. Delicate flowers swayed in the gentle breeze, and fat, lazy bees buzzed around them.

Misako pushed the door open slightly, and asked, "Is anyone here?"

There was no answer, so we all walked inside. A cheese sandwich sat out on a small wooden table, next to a fresh cup of milk and a pressed napkin. Again, my sixth sense kicked in and my hand strayed towards my belt, where I always kept several shuriken.

"What is it?" asked Cole, noticing my discomfort.

"Something is not right here," I explained. "If the owner of this house is absent, why would she leave food out to rot?"

Cole nodded. "That makes sense," he said. "But what does it mean?"

A scream from outside pierced my ears, and I rushed out to see Lloyd, Jay, and Kai gaping in horror at something in a deep gorge. A winding river cut through this trench, roaring and splashing into sharp rocks. And on one such rock, a old woman lay impaled by a bloody spear.

For several seconds my body went immobile. Then as everyone around me stood still from shock, I knew I had to do something. I dove into the rapid river, struggling against the current. When I reached the rock, I groped about until my hand touched flesh. With a heave, I lifted the woman onto my back and swam to the shore. My brothers were waiting there for me, and they lifted the woman onto the dry ground.

"Zane, check her vital signs," ordered Sensei Wu.

I coughed more water out of my artificial lungs, and wobbled over the old woman. Her breaths were shallow, and blood was gushing from her wound. The blood flow suddenly ceased, and her chest stopped moving. Pressing my shaking fingers to her wrist, I prayed desperately for a sign of life. No such luck. I stood without turning around and said, "She is dead."

Lloyd wailed beside me, and I was struck with the thought of him never growing up.

Cole's voice nagged behind me. "Why didn't you do anything?" he wanted to know.

I was used to being treated like a lesser being, but this time, something inside me snapped. I whirled around to face my team leader.

"Why did I not do anything?" I fumed. "I got her from the water! I carried her to shore! I did not see any of you helping!" I jabbed a bloody finger in his face. "I am sick of being your doormat! I am disgusted by how you use me! You use me as a appliance, some machine that is only good for service! Well I am through with that!"

With those words, I stormed off, leaving four stunned ninja behind.

**First off, Zane is OOC on purpose. I am sorta basing this on his feeling towards P.I.X.A.L. in episode 28, where he says "you didn't fix me, she did!" Zane is a very emotional character, and he is also my favorite. Now onto the riddles! First of all, tone guest reviewer got the first one right. J.Z.F. stood for Julien Zane Falcon. No one got Sketchrex's riddle; the answer was a gift card! The next one is:**

**I have memories but none of my own,  
Whatever's on my inside is what is shown.  
If im ever different is because you changed me,  
I feel like a decoration here for you to arrange me.**


	8. A rejected offer

**My trip was rather I eventful, so I had ample time to creat this chappie. It's a filler, not much happens, and the next will probably be the same. As a birthday present to my sister, I'm letting her create the next chapter. She is gonna give me a plot and POV, and I'm going to write it; she loves to make suggestions but hates writing. u_u**

Cole's POV

Some days, being team leader was a great thing. I got to order people around, make the decisions, and eat all the cake I desired. This was not one of those days. I glanced around at my remaining teammates, who still stood stunned. Zane was gone, three of my men were now kids, and our only lead was _dead_. Could my life get any worse?

Apparently yes, because Lloyd approached me at that moment and tentatively asked, "Cole? I need to go to the bathroom..."

Several minutes later, I had gathered all of my fellow element bearers -excluding Zane, of course- in the forest.

"Ok guys," I directed. "We are gonna split into two groups. I will lead the first one, and Nya will lead the second."

Nya nodded. She stepped forward and called, "Jay and Kai!" The two boys lifted their bowed heads as they heard their names. "You will come with me to search the northern part."

I cleared my throat. "Lloyd, you are coming with me. We are gonna scour the southern section of the forest."

"Ok," he acknowledged.

"We will meet back here in two hours, unless one of us finds him," Nya planned.

"Great," I confirmed. "Now let's go find Zane! Ninja go!"

With that, Lloyd and I disappeared into the thick foliage. Thorns and brambles poked at our kimonos, while long, slender twigs slapped our faces. After about an hour or so of unfruitful searching, Lloyd suggested that we should head back.

"After all," he reasoned. "It took us an hour to get this far into the forest, and I don't want to worry the others by being late."

I turned to face him in surprise. "Why would they worry?"

"Because I'm the Gold Ninja!" Lloyd groaned. "And if I'm late for something, anything, the whole town freaks out! You guys must think its fun, being swarmed by hundreds of fan girls. It's not, and I would switch jobs with yo-"

I slapped my hand over his mouth, to which he glared daggers at me. "Let me go!" he tried to protest, but it came out as, "Ummfgufouf!"

"Shh," I whispered.

I could hear strange sounds through the whole search, and my brain had finally registered two of them.

"What is it?" asked Lloyd freeing himself from my hand.

"Oh, nothing," I lied. "Hey, you can head back. I need to check out..." I frantically scanned the undergrowth. "Those tracks!" I pointed.

Lloyd just stared at me and blinked. "Um, ok. Well, I'll see you soon!" He turned around and backtracked.

As soon as he was out of my sight and hearing, I turned around and crawled into some thorny bushes. Most of my exposed body was now bleeding;_ I hope this isn't for nothing!_ I was rewarded for my cuts by the sound of voices, a monotone one and a... hissing one.

"I too know how it feelsss to be rejected," one raspy voice was hissing. "But guessss what? You don't need thossse pessky ninja! Join with me, and we can overthrow them and take over Ninjago!"

A silence. Then, "No."

"No?" the former voice asked incredulously.

"No," replied the latter firmly. "Now get out of here, before I alert my team."

"Ok!" spat the first. "But be warned! Thisss won't be the last you ssee of me! I will return, and kill all the onesss you love!"

When all was quiet for several minutes, I felt it was safe to enter the clearing. I dragged myself from the hedge, flinching at a bramble which pierced my ear. The person sitting with his back to me didn't turn, but flatly said, "Hello, Cole."

"Um, hi Zane." I responded awkwardly, wondering _how did he know it was me? _

In answer to my unasked question, Zane stated, "Your steps are firm, but you glide over the leafy ground thanks to your dancing skills."

I blinked. "You can tell it's me from my footfalls?"

"And you are the only one dedicated enough to our team to climb into that patch of thorns," he added, the faintest trace of a smile in his words.

I laughed slightly, but quickly regained my composure and coughed. "Hey, I'm sorry for the way that I treated you back there. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course," he replied easily, making me feel surprised. "But," he added. "Even though I forgive you, your words and actions still sting as a branding iron."

I nodded mutely. "Who were you talking to?"

"That creature?" he asked. "That was Pythor, the last remaining Anacondrai and the former Snake King. He offered my a chance to take over Ninjago, and I refused, as you could hear from under that raspberry bush."

"He threatened you," I recalled. When Zane only nodded, I laid my hand on his shoulder and promised, "Nothing will happen to you, or the rest of the team while I still live."

**As usual, Guardian Sorceress Alanshee got the riddle. The answer was a picture frame! Sketchrex has given me some good riddle pointers, so I kinda made this up right now. It's pretty simple, but I am thinking on an empty stomach, so deal with it. **

**What comes next in this pattern: qazwsxedcr_**


	9. the beginning:2

**Guy's, I apologize. This is so short, really uneventful, and basically altogether fitting of Hiccup's middle name.**

Jay's POV

I used to think teaching at _Sensei Wu's School_ was the worst occupation in Ninjago. _Boy, have I been proven wrong! _ Being the student was so much worse. Zane stood in front of me, lecturing the class about the number of electrons in a proton. _Or was that an atom?_ I really didn't care. My mind wandered to the greeting that we received when we arrived back at our school.

_"Hi kids!" Cole climbed out of the bus and hi-fived several of them. They were all milling around us, welcoming us back and asking questions. _

_"Where have you been?" demanded Gene._

_"Where are the others?" questioned Joe._

_"Did you bring me any presents?" pressed Jane._

_"Woah, woah, one question at a time!" Cole smiled as the crowd grew still and quiet. "Now, what do you want to know?"_

_"Where are Mr. Kai and Mr. Jay?" piped up Maria._

_Cole started to answer, but Nya cut him off and shot him a warning glance. "They went to get us some more food. Also," she paused, "We picked up three new boys! Guys, meet Kyle," she gestured to the shrunken fire ninja._

_Kai nodded, clearly realizing that there was no sense in arguing with his stubborn sister._

_"This is Jake," she continued with a bob of the head in my direction. _

_I started to protest, but snapped my mouth closed when she glared at me. "Hi," I mumbled instead._

_"And finally, Floyd." _

_Lloyd choked on his cup of water. _

_"Nice to meet y'all," drawled Harry absentmindedly. "Did you bring me anything?"_

"Help!"

I snapped back to attention, only to see some girl holding a remote. My inventor's eye investigated the situation; it appeared that the remote controlled Zane, who was moving around on the table.

"Ohh, cool!" I cried, rushing to the front of the class. "Can I try?"

"Jake!" Zane glared at me before doing a belly-flop onto the table.

I just giggled.

At that moment the door burst open, and a very furious Cole stormed in. "What's going on here?"

"I got this remote from New Ninjago City, and it controls Mr. Zane!" gushed Sally.

Cole grabbed the remote and hit several buttons, at which I rolled my eyes because of his feeble attempt to shut it off. "How do you stop this thing?" he cried, resorting to crushing it against the table.

"That was expensive!" whined Sally, running off to pout in a corner.

"Mr. Cole is the worst!" complained Brad, shooting the Earth Ninja a dirty glare before running off to comfort the girl.

A bell rang, and the mob vanished as quickly as it had been created.

"Recess, my favorite time of the day!" Cole sighed in relief and flopped down onto the floor.

**Ok, horrendous right? My sister wrote it... That explain anything? This is starting to get to the surge; I sorta have an outline for this and it will probably be roughly 20 chappies. Visit my profile for a poll on the ending! I always love reviews, constructive criticism, and plot ideas! Northamericanjaguar got the riddle, the next sequence is Fvtgbyhnujmikolp! This is another riddle I made! **

**I am creative but not on my own,**

**There are many of me, I'm just a clone.**

**I look like nothing until you use me,**

**I'm kinda small before you build with me.**


	10. Money shortages

**Hi** **guys, this is to make up for the previous chapter! **

Sensei Wu's POV

_How much money can five teenage boys use up in one week?_ I shook my head in despair as I went through all the bills. Food, clothes, video games... It just went on and on! _For example, last week, we went to Ninjago Buffet, which the most renowned all-you-can-eat-place in Ninjago._ The bill was too outrageous to think of! I picked up a bill from the auto-parts store; it appeared that the bus was in worse shape than I'd thought. I had just enough money to buy the new parts, but I was going to need my students to put them together. _Let's see, the new tires were $25 each, the tank of gas was $90, and- _ A din of voices and laughter interrupted my concentration, so I stood up, laid down the papers, and went to check out the situation.

The normally impeccable Zane was dancing on a table! I bit my lip to restrain myself from chuckling. A screaming whistle sounded from the kitchen, and I hurried into the room where the tea water was boiling. I absolutely loved that teapot, Misako had given it to me for the opening day of my school. The twelve o'clock bell rang, and the noise suddenly dispersed as the kids ran outside to play.

"Recess, my favorite time of the day!" Cole groaned.

The back door opened with a startling screech, and Lloyd, Kai, and Jay came in.

"Zane, are your classes always that boring?" Jay yawned. "It seemed like you actually knew what you were talking about!"

"Of course," replied Zane, recovered from the remote incident. He looked at Jay quizzically. "Do you not comprehend the subject that you instruct?"

"Umm, not really..." Jay admitted sheepishly. "I tend to prepare my lessons the day before."

"You mean," added Kai, "Zane's lessons?"

I rolled my grey eyes; it was semi-common knowledge that all the boys dumped the responsibilities of teaching onto Zane. When I announced that I was starting a school, Zane immediately volunteered for science as the rest of my former students protested. A month before school started, they realized that the white ninja had all his lessons laid out, while they still weren't sure of their subject. This, of course, led to Zane making all their lessons for them. _But then again, he actually seems to like it! _

Lloyd had no idea what was going on, so he simply turned to me with a bundle of questions in his eyes and asked if there was any food.

"In the fridge," I replied, waving him into the kitchen.

"Can you bring our pudding while you're at it?" Kai called.

Lloyd ran past me with four cups in his arms, and protests broke out several moments later. I poked my head around the door and watched Cole devour not only his pudding, but Jay's as well.

Jay finally noticed that his food had mysteriously vanished. "Who took my pudding cup?" he growled, but it came out more as a squeak. "My name was clearly written on it!"

"Didn't see Motor Mouth," jested the earth ninja, using deft fingers to toss the styrofoam cup into the trash can.

"I'm gonna tell the Head Master!" Jay threatened, but it sounded pretty lame, considering that it came from a nine year-old who stood at 4:1.

"Leave me out of it," I warned, walking into the room with me tea. "I'm on break as well!"

"Here, have mine Jay," Kai threw the miniature ninja his share of the dessert. He then turned to me. "Do we have any of those red velvet cupcakes left?"

"No, You ate those last week," I answered patiently, barely containing an eye roll.

Meanwhile, Jay was asking Lloyd to frost his pudding. Only problem was, Lloyd was having a hard time controlling his powers. At the moment, he was scorching Jay's hands in an attempt to melt the block of ice that the pudding was now frozen in. As soon as all the ice was gone, he ran away from Lloyd.

"Come over here, Jay." Zane beckoned the grumpy blue ninja to his side. He flipped open his wrist panel, touched several buttons, and a calming frost seeped out of his palm and chilled the melting substance.

At that moment, Nya came in with a disgusted look on her face. "How come, when I teach, I get the feeling that none of the boys listen to me!"

"Hey Miss Nya..." Jay stuttered, looking up at his girlfriend. "I saved you some pudding!"

Nya sighed. "I don't want it!" _I could sympathize with that..._ "What did we talk about?"

"Oh, riigght. Boundaries."

"Did you guys hear the news?" Nya looked up at me and I nodded, _you can tell them._

Kai leapt to his small feet. "Trouble?"

Jay yelped. "Danger!" He jumped into an attack stance with his wooden spoon, and I was reminded of the time that Kai fought with a toothbrush.

Cole was next. "An emergency?" _He looks very interested, _I recollected, _for someone who brings books to a battle so he won't get bored._

"Oh, a new menace?" questioned Zane, flipping over Kai's head.

Lloyd took one look at Nya. "Um, no?"

She nodded to confirm his guess, and my students let out a disappointed "Aww!"

"I've got clearance for our field trip! And not just any field trip!" A spark of joy filled her eyes. "We are going to Borg Industries!"

A dreamy look came over Jay's face. "The Borg Industries? Home to Cyrus Borg, inventor of the Hover Car and everything else awesome in this world?"

Zane kicked him, and I realized that the lightning ninja offended his dad. Dr. Julien died several weeks ago, but Zane seemed to of got over it. Nevertheless, I decided to make Jay apologize later.

I suddenly remembered what I had to tell them. "You will have to repair the school bus first," I said.

"Why? Doesn't the mechanic do that?" Lloyd furrowed his brow.

"Well, some people have been running up a huge bill lately," I frowned at the group. "And we don't have enough money to pay one.

"I've bought the spare parts, and all you need to do is install them. Easy enough!" But even I doubted my own words as the four element bearers turned to one another with stricken looks on their faces, small and great alike.

**Never, repeat never let the ninja work on your vehicle. Unless they are doing the tornado of creation, or it's just Jay, Zane, and Nya. Golden Sea Authors got my riddle first, the answer was a LEGO brick. Cookies! (::) (:.). The next riddle is: **

**I move only when you want me to, **

**I am made of metal, sparks, and gears.**

**With circles of rubber, the square of two,**

**I have also both chairs and mirrors.**

**pretty easy, and it can have several answers. Also, I am now accepting more riddles. Same rules from last time, except they MUST be homemade. In addition, visit my profile for a poll!**


	11. Eyes

**Ok, guys! I am SO sorry for the wait!**

P.I.X.A.L.'s POV

"The ninja are on their way, my lord."

I glanced up from the computer monitor, my eyes glinting as I gazed at my master. Screens flashed around me, making my silver hair glow with a array of colors. My master's eyes burned with intensity for a second, and then they returned back to their original violet. He vanished and reappeared on the walls quick as lightning, making my head spin.

"Good," he hissed, finally settling on a monitor in front of the window. "Where are they now?"

I turned back to the screen and worked furiously to find the android's signature.

"They are right outside," I informed him. One monitor displayed feed from camera 139; a dented, wheeled bus was parked by the door. The vehicle was missing a windshield, and three of the tires appeared flat. All in all, I was left wondering how they arrived here in that state.

"Go meet them," he instructed after a pause. "You know what you need to do."

I nodded curtly, turned around, and strode down the staircase. A group of humans were gathered in the center of the lobby, along with a child stuck in the door and the android. I raised my eyebrow slightly,_ is the human male too stout to get through the entrance_? I rolled my eyes, letting the last traces of red vanish from from them. _Stop it P.I.X.A.L.! You don't need to know the details. _ I ignored the male and walked up to the group.

"Welcome to Borg Industries," I stated.

The group turned my way, and I singled out the android. _Target sighted._

"I am P.I.X.A.L., Cyrus' Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life form," I continued. "I am sorry to hear about the traffic accident."

"Wow, news travels fast!" A burly male with shaggy, black hair interrupted my speech, so I glared at him for a battery pulse before turning back to the larger group.

"Everything in New Ninjago City is fully automated and interconnected," I explained. It sounded simple to me, but the human gave me a baffled look and backed up a step.

I turned to the android, who was watching me with piercing blue eyes. "You are Z.A.N.E., a droid like me."

I paused to study his face. He was trying to remain indifferent, his face carefully arranged into a neutral expression, but his eyes shone like stars. "What does -Z.A.N.E.- stand for?" I wondered aloud.

He blinked once. "I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" When I nodded, he smiled. "I stand for peace, freedom, and courage in the face of all who threaten Ninjag-"

"She means your name, Tin-head!" A child with a nicked eyebrow interrupted him, seeing my puzzled expression.

"Oh. Well, I guess I'm just Zane," he said.

_There won't be a better time, P.I.X.A.L. Download his blueprints!_

"Permission to scan?" I asked.

"Permission, granted." His eyes searched for my own, but I quickly turned away and began to work.

**/Downloading Blueprints\\\\\** I found myself giving an overview as I uploaded the files into my data-base.

"Your hardware is outdated and your processor is slow and incomparable with ours." I finished my scan, and realized I must have missed something. Another search, and I still couldn't find his power source. "All droids run on batteries, but strangely enough, I can not find yours." I lay one of my hands on his left shoulder. "What powers you?"

"I-I do not know." Z.A.N.E. really did look puzzled.

I shrugged slightly. It really didn't matter, my master's creation would be powered by the station anyway. "Mr. Borg wants to see the ninja on the hundredth floor. The rest of you, follow me for your tour."

As I walked away, feeling more or less satisfied, I felt blue eyes boring into me until I left the lobby.

**I originally was was going to put another chapter between this and the last, but it was a filler, and I'd already his two fillers in a row, so this happened. Again I'm sorry for the wait. I hope this was worth it; constructive criticism is always appreciated! Another chapter will -hopefully- be up within a week. Also, Ninjagolover72, I hope your bro is ok! I'm glad you like my story so much. Now onto other subjects. Sketchrex got the riddle, the answer was a car. Imaginary gold stars! And guys, please send me more homemade riddles, I'm running out! This next one is:**

**I am glowing with a yellow hue**

**Three prongs of coldness,**

**I like white, not red, black**, **or blue.**


	12. Mr Borg

**Sorry for the delay! **

Zane's POV

_Pixal is amazing._ My thoughts jumbled together as I struggled through this emotional mess. N_o, she is more than that. She's gorgeous. She's smart. She's incredible. Yes, that is it. Incredible. _

"Hey Zane!" Cole's rough voice interrupted my thoughts. "Are you coming?"

I swiveled my head around, and remembered that the earth ninja was waiting on the elevator for me.

"Oh, sorry!" I called as I ran to join him.

The elevator door closed, and the chamber started to move up rapidly after a moment's pause. I watched the passageway she went through until it vanished from my sight.

I heard a muffled snicker, and I turned to see the corners of Cole's mouth twitching.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked.

Cole just grinned stupidly at me. I raised one eyebrow slightly, praying the doors would open and relieve me from this awkward situation.

Right on time, the elevator stopped moving. The metal door opened, revealing a magnificent office. There were computers on the walls, devices littering the tables, and small robots wheeling around. I stepped into the room and looked around.

"I would of expected ninja to sneak in through the window, not ride the elevator!"

I turned, started, and found the source of the voice. A middle-aged man sat at a desk, smiling pleasantly at us.

The man laughed slightly at his own joke, but then his face went back to it's confused look. "I am Mr. Borg. May I ask, where are the rest of you?"

Cole didn't seen to have anything, so I launched into a brief explanation. "The effects of Cras Herbathea, more commonly known as Tomorrow's Tea, wear away after an indefinite period of time. Because of that, the others-"

"-have the flu," injected Cole hastily. Without turning, he whispered, "Something feels off here; keep your answers brief."

Mr. Borg still seemed confused, but he let the matter slide and turned to me.

"Oh Zane, I am sorry to hear about your Father's death!"

"Loss is inevitable," I replied sadly. After his death, I'd managed to bury the thought in my hard drive, that is, until Jay unknowingly insulted him. Now it was an open wound.

"He would of fit right in," he said.

"Hey, wasn't the Overlord defeated here?" interrupted Cole. "Who decided to build this place on it?"

Mr. Borg suddenly looked nervous. He adjusted his glasses and fiddled with his hair. "I did. What better way to show the people evil will never win?"

He wheeled over to a covered object, all the while babbling about the future and such.

"Ahh, here is something for you!"

"Ohh, It doesn't happen to be cake, maybe?" Not for the first time, I really questioned Cole's leadership skills. _If a worker for the Overlord offered him a lifetime supply of cake, would he accept it?_

In response to Cole's obsessive question, Mr. Borg pulled the sheet off. A life-size statue of himself greeted my eyes.

"Ok, no cake," sighed Cole. "But wow," he recovered and tried to act polite. "A golden statue. Of yourself."

"I must get back to work now, feel free to leave!" Mr. Borg smiled nervously at us, and then he wheeled back to his desk.

"Help me carry this, Zane." Cole lifted up one end of the gift.

I heaved up my end the statue with little effort. We half-carried, half-dragged the it into the elevator. I turned around and looked at the inventor closely.

"What do you think is wrong with him?"

"Who? Mr. Borg?" When I nodded, Cole shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe he isn't used to visits from famous people?"

He let go of the gold image with one hand to punch in the floor level. That was a big mistake. The weight of the statue, however light it might be, was taking its toll on my arms. I dropped my end of it, and yelped slightly when it smashed onto the ground. My right arm ached, and I took to rubbing it as Cole stooped to pick up something.

"What are those?"

"I think, ninja suits," answered Cole. He glanced up at me. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"I think I pulled some wires out of their sockets," I grimaced. I tried to move it, but burning pain ran down from my elbow all the way to my fingertips when I did.

Something shiny caught my eye, and I bent down and picked up a long, golden rod with my other hand.

"What are these?" I wondered aloud.

Suddenly, alarms blared and lights flashed. Overhead, a automated voice boomed: **Techno blades located. Please step away. ** And the elevator plunged at a death speed towards the ground.

**Fanfiction wouldn't let me log in! This chappie has been ready for several days now, and I finally got on the computer and uploaded this through it! Randomness Girl got the riddle, the answer was the Shuriken's of Ice! Kudo's! Also, thanks to her for pointing out my error. D The next riddle is part of a series I am making. It's: **

**Golden magma bubbles and glows**

**In peaks that brightly shine.**

**Two cupful if you're able to,**

**For a life is on the line.**

**All you have to do is get the location right! In addition, next update I'm taking down the poll.**


	13. Explotion

**Next chapter! **

Lloyd's POV

Pixal walked away, and I snuck another glance at Zane before he disappeared from my sight. His eyes trailed us, until Cole called to him.

"Lloyd! Psst! Lloyd!" Jay whispered loudly in my ear, and I resisted the urge to slap him.

"What?" I snapped, rubbing my ticklish ear against my shoulder.

"Everyone else is in the next room! Come on!" he urged.

He pushed me through the doorway, and I heard Pixal talking in her mono-tone voice.

"Mr. Borg believes technology is the key to solving all our problems."

Pixal was standing in the center of a large room. Hovercars seemed to pop out of their blueprints, and people sitting in chairs spun as a in-game character used spinjitzu. Despite my mood, I sullenly admitted I was slightly awestruck.

"Feel free to look around," said Pixal, as she walked off to stand by another door. "When you are finished, join me by this threshold."

Before she finished her sentence, a small thunderstorm broke out in the spinjitzu gaming console section.

I sprinted past the nuclear toothbrushes, crawled under two enormous Ice Cream Hat tables, and jogged the rest of the way to the spinjitzu simulators. A large crowd of boys stood around me. I was pushed and shoved, until I was sure I had bruises on all my exposed body parts.

"What's all the fuss about?" I nearly screamed. I had a tendency to become moody, and the frenzied throng wasn't helping my attitude.

Finally, somebody responded after several such screams. "There's a console open for trial!" Joe yanked on my hair, climbed on my back, and jumped over several other boys. "Sorry, Floyd!" he called behind him.

I didn't respond. A green ball of energy was forming in my palms, and it took all my will power to keep my frustration in check.

"Hey Lloyd!" Someone tapped my arm tentatively.

When I turned to face the person, I felt my facial expression soften. There were only three people in Ninjago that could accomplish that. One was my mother, another was my dad, and the last one was Kai. Somehow, Kai could soothe my nerves, and he was the closest thing I had to a brother.

"What's up?" I asked. I subconsciously unclenched my fists, until my hands hung limply at my sides.

"Do you know where Nya is?" Of course. Even as a kid, Kai would be looking out for his younger sister.

I thought about it for a moment. "Umm, no." When the fire ninja's face fell, I put a hand on his shoulder. "I can help you look for her, though."

Kai smiled. "Thanks Lloyd. Now, where could she be?"

"Hmm, good question. I don't know," I responded. "But she's probably with the little girls."

"Well, where would that be?" Kai asked.

"I dunno. Maybe someone has seen her?" I suggested.

"Let's ask that Pix person!"

"Pix person? Oh, you mean Pixal!" When Kai nodded, I stifled a chuckle. "Good place to start as any," I agreed.

Kai pulled me out of the mob scene, and we half ran, half limped over to the female android. Her sparkling green eyes turned to face us.

"How may I be of service?" she asked.

"Have you seen my sister?" Kai pulled himself up to his full hight, trying to look important, and failing miserably.

"Describe the female." Pixal commanded.

"She has short, black hair, and a red dress," I recalled.

"Walking to the Perfect Match Console is the last recorded action of the female," droned Pixal.

"Thanks!" both Kai and I shouted, running off in two completely different directions.

I stopped shortly, and backed up until I could see Pixal clearly. "Umm, which way is the thingy?"

"Turn around 187 degrees to the left! and walk that direction," Pixal instructed, but I was already gone.

"Nya!" I called loudly.

When no one answered, I called again. Girlish giggles reached my ears, and I stumbled through the crowd of boys. I broke free of the throng, and turned in several circles.

"Nya!"

I ran towards the tall girl, who was standing on a pink, girly machine. As I drew closer, gasps of shock reached my ears. I strained my eyes, -for I was yet a way off- and saw some sort of hologram appear.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone!"

When I heard Nya's panicked voice, I slowed to a stop. _This seems to be more of a personal matter, should I approach? _

After a long moment, I turned around to find Kai. _No need to pry, I'd decided. I'll just tell him where to find his sister._

At that moment, Jay ran up to me. "Lloyd! I need your help!"

"What's wrong?" I asked. I felt my mood coming back; Jay was either being extra annoying today, or my hormones were rampaging from my shrink spurt.

"Gene and Luke are beating each other up, and I was hoping-"

"I could help you. Yeah, yeah, sure," I said sarcastically.

"If you're not feeling up to it-"

"No, no," I waved him off. "I'll come to your rescue, so you can complain about me more."

Turning around, I walked away grumbling. _Complaining and using, that's all I ever get. I help them, they complain and slander, they come back for more help, and repeat twice weekly. And what do I do wrong? I'm famous for doing things right, of all things..._

By the time I got there, I was in a frightful mood. I strode over to the spinjitzu simulators, threw my hand out in front of me, and began to build up a green orb of light._ I wonder how fast a tech center explodes..._

**Bad Lloyd! I was originally gonna make this chappie longer, but that would of been a good 500 words more. I am planning several crazy things for this story, so bear with me on the storyline chapters!**

**FanFicGirl10987 got the riddle right, the answer was The Golden Peaks. These places are in Ninjago. Also, I'm gonna start counting with cookies, and keeping score! Here's the total for everyone:**

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**Next riddle is:**

**Below the toxin of the bog,**

**Mud gathers in a heap.**

**But in the magic of a glob,**

**A life it helps to keep.**


	14. The Plunge

**Sorry for the really late update!**

Cole's POV

_I am going to die._ How did I know this? Well, I just happened to be flattened against the roof of an elevator plunging downward at a death speed, and to make matters worse, Zane was having a colossal breakdown. He rattled off percentages and fractions, making my pounding headache worse.

"-us disintegrating immediately are 73%!"

"Can you please be quiet!" I hissed, wiping a few drops of liquid from my cheek. Don't get me wrong, I loved Zane and all, but the guy seriously had some bad timing! "Now is not the time for math!"

I scanned the room franticly. "Do you see any way out?"

Zane swiveled his head around. "The ceiling!"

I followed his eyes, and caught a glimpse of a loose panel. Zane positioned himself and leapt down to the floor. He let out a small scream, and I stared at his bad arm. The wires were popping out of it now, and it seemed that his appendage was dangling uselessly beside his body now.

"What happened?" I shouted.

Zane didn't answer immediately. He instead launched himself at the ceiling. The panel shot off when his feet connected with it. "The pressure is great below us!" he explained.

"Let's get out of here!" I started spinning upside down, and vanished into my earth spinjitzu. I flew out of the elevator, and landed on the top of it. "Zane! Are you coming?"

The signature blue-ish white-ish color of ice spinjitzu flashed, but vanished, after a moment.

"What's wrong?" I yelled. The concrete was almost near enough to pick out individual cars.

"I've lost too much oil!" came Zane's panicked reply. "My gears are locking up!"

I froze. The liquid on my face. _He's been loosing oil since the start!_ Without even thinking, I reached for his arm.

"Grab my hand!" I bellowed. I stared down at the nindroid, and his eyes betrayed the same emotion that I felt. Fear.

Suddenly, the whole building lit up. Green light flooded the elevator, and it slowed to a screeching stop.

Zane reached up and caught my hand. Using my incredible strength, I hauled him up. His arm hung limply by his side, and he wasn't able able to move his leg. "What is happening?" he asked.

I never got a chance to explain, because the tower literally exploded. A chunk of the bottom blew up, and Zane and I were thrown apart. I was blinded by the green blaze, and it took me a second to recover from the blow. I sprinted to the edge of the platform that supported me.

"Zane!" I screamed. The world seemed dim and hazy, and it spun before my eyes. _Where is he?_

The Hovercopter landing pad started shaking, and I stared in dismay as it broke off the tower and fell. I groped in the air for something -anything- to grab onto. My quivering hand brushed against something soft, and I tore my eyes away from the impending crash. _A ninja suit?_ I pulled it closer to my chest, and spotted one of those flying cleaning droid thingies. I tensed my muscles, and leapt for the robot.

There was a feeling of nothingness as my feet left the platform. I reached as far as I was able to, and gripped the antennae of the machine. I circumspectly climbed to the top.

"Ninja Go!" I gripped the weird tecno-blade as I scanned the rubble through my new ninja mask. _Where are they?_

I spotted a bit of movement from the corner of my eye; little figures were crawling out of the ruins. And three of them were sporting red, blue, and green.

**Again, sorry for the late update. I started middle school, and it's on a college level. Don't expect super frequent updates. And yes, I am up really late. **

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**What is this quote from?**

**"I do not mean to pry, but do you happen to have six fingers on your right hand?"**


	15. New Lloyd

**Boy, I am on a roll!**

Jay's POV

"Lloyd!" I screamed. I squinted my eyes and searched through the rubble. _I can't believe the Borg Tower exploded! Why did Lloyd do it? Was it something I said?_

A flash of red caught my eye, and I turned to see Kai crawl out from under a support beam. He was bleeding slightly, but I hardly noticed. "Where's Lloyd?"

Kai raised his eyebrows slightly. "Like I know? You were the one who was nearest to him!"

"I know, I know," I admitted grudgingly. A movement of debris excited me. It gave one final shudder, and my shoulders sagged once more as the female android wiggled out. _What was her name again? Pixar?_

Kai was running towards a pile of junk to help out Nya, and I wondered if I should help. _After all, I am her one and only boyfriend!_ My decision was made, though, when a burst of green blew all the wreckage apart in the section beside me. Lloyd walked out, looking neither frazzled of mad like I expected, but eerily calm. I unwillingly took a step back.

Kai and Nya struggled up the ruins and stopped as soon as they saw Lloyd.

"Um, are you alright Lloyd?" Kai took a hesitant step towards the gold ninja.

Lloyd nodded cooly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Something buzzed above me, and I turned and looked up. A small robot was flying in circles, with a black ninja on top of it.

"Who's that?" I asked, pointing up at the black figure.

Kai peered up at the dark sky. "I don't see anything."

The masked man dropped down from the droid, and ran towards me. I backed away from him, and he stopped short, puzzled. Then he rolled his eyes. "Of course," he said. "The new suit." He pulled down the mask, and I realized it was Cole. "Here," he said, throwing me a blue kimono. "These are for you."

I walked behind a pile of rubble -remembering just in time that I couldn't do spinjitzu- and changed into my new attire. When I came back out, Cole threw me a weird golden chainsaw that nearly took off my arms. "Techno-blade," he said, as if that explained everything.

Kai emerged into my view, wearing a ninja gi that would of looked really cool, had it not have been too long. Instead, the sleeves and pants were rolled up, and his mask's ties hung down onto his torso. I suspected that mine appeared the same way.

"Where's Zane?" I asked. The absence of the ice ninja was affecting us all. Cole seemed less confident, as he kept glancing over his shoulder every few minutes.

Cole exhaled softly. "We were split apart in Lloyd's, I mean, the blast."

Lloyd didn't acknowledge Cole; he was really getting on my nerves. _He doesn't take the blame for the explosion, and he insists that we not talk about it!_

Interestingly, it was Kai who confronted him. "Lloyd! Zane might be dead!"

Lloyd glared at him, the most emotion I'd seen from him in the last hour. "So?"

Kai stared at him in shock. I did too. Lloyd just stared at us impassively. It sent a shiver down my spine. _Where is that little green ninja that I used to prank with and train?_

Cole cleared his throat. "Guys, we don't know if he's dead. We need to find him, though."

A blast of red shot past me and exploded the stone foundation. I whirled around in surprise, and a mech with glowing red eyes fired at my head. I ducked a second too late, and the stench of singed hair filled my nostrils.

More mechs dropped from the sky, and hovercopters filled the air. Jets screamed past, and huge bombs sent shock waves through the air.

"Stand your ground!" bellowed Cole. I shifted instinctively into a fighting stance. The robots advanced, all the while firing at us. I dodged one blast, and raised the very heavy techno-saw to block another. _Haha! Techno-saw!_

"Kai!"

Cole hurled himself across the battlefield at the red ninja. He swung his golden chain-thing at a droid, and to both of out surprise, a green blade materialized and planted itself into the mech. _So that's why it's called a techno-blade_! The mech shuddered, and it transformed from blue and red into brown and green.

Kai crawled out from behind a massive concrete chunk. "What just happened?"

My brain was tingling with excitement. "Cole just hacked the mech! It obeys him now!"

I didn't get much time to ooh and ah, because the hovercopters closed in and the other mechs surrounded us because we weren't paying attention.

One mech walked forward.** /Surrender or pay the consequences\\\**

I looked to Cole, but our team leader was chewing his lip while sitting atop his mech. _Without Zane, I realized, he can't make decisions._

"We won't," Cole finally answered. I could hear him trying to sound firm, but I knew him well enough to pick out the waver in his voice.

**/Very well\\\** The droids marched forward, and we all shifted into an attack stance, but a chilling voice made us all freeze in our tracks. Lloyd, whom I'd forgotten about in the hubbub, strode out in front of me.

"Let us go," he commanded in a powerful voice that was not his own. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. "Now."

The droid commander took a step back, and the hovercopters vanished from the sky like a puff of smoke. Lloyd walked calmly between the ranks of robots, and I followed, more hesitantly. _Lloyd, he's changed. It's like he's possessed._

**What can I say? I was inspired. **

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**Congrats Alanshee! The quote was from the Princess Bride!**

**"Oh boy, do I go for those! Why they're great on... on... or even plain!"**


	16. Virus

**Hello again! **

Overlord's POV

Lloyd was fighting hard, I'll give him that. He was in a metaphorical cage inside his mind, while I possessed his body. He pounded against the bars, and shrieked at the top of his lungs. It brouHeght me great pleasure to see him like that, helpless and weak. _Like father like son,_ I thought, recalling the time that I took over Garmadon's body. Only this time, Lloyd was a child.

"Let me out!" he screamed.

I chuckled. He blanched slightly. Since I had no body, i couldn't appear to him, but the voice out of nowhere added to my fear factor.

"How are you doing this! I destroyed you!" Lloyd seemed genuinely puzzled.

"You poor, simple fool." I sighed. "I turned myself into a virus," I explained in a condescending fashion. "When that bumbling Borg built his pretty little tower, I seized my chance. I entered his systems!" I looked over to Lloyd, to see his reaction.

"You still didn't answer my question!" Lloyd was putting up a brave front, I'll give him that, but I could see his bottom lip quivering.

"I've gained enough power to take over all of Ninjago City's electronics. When you brought that tower down, I used your hate and jumped over and took control of your by while you were still recovering. Now that you are a child again, your willpower has diminished! Simple!"

Lloyd glared in a random direction.

"Oh, look!" I was really getting good at this possessing thing. Lloyd could see what was going on outside, but he was helpless to do anything about him.

"Zane?" Lloyd gasped. "Zane!"

The ice ninja was beaten up and weary. He will be easy to take over, I reckoned.

Lloyd turned from the screen. "What happened to his arm?" he demanded.

"Oh, it must of been blown off in your explosion," I remarked casually. Where his arm should of been, several wires dangled out of his torso.

Lloyd paled considerably.

"Let's go have some fun," I said to no one in particular.

I walked around a pile of rubble towards the damaged robot. His face brightened considerably.

"Lloyd!" He staggered forward. "What was that green explosion?"

I grinned wickedly. "Oh, nothing," I replied as Lloyd. "I was practicing, and my hand slipped big time."

Zane looked at me quizzically. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired." I feigned fatigue and collapsed to the ground.

Zane limped forward. "Lloyd!"

I turned to my prisoner. "Now you stay put, and I'll be right back."

Lloyd had tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. "What are you going to do with him?"

I didn't answer. _Keep him in suspense._

When the white ninja got close enough, I made my move. With incredible speed, I transformed back into my virus form and transferred onto the droid. He also collapsed, and I worked my way into his motherboard. _Let's see, power, sight, hearing, oh! Here it is!_ I uploaded myself onto him, and jumped back to Lloyd's little body.

"What did you do?" Lloyd was pressed against a corner of his cage. He was quivering.

"Oh, I just downloaded my virus into his systems. Any moment now, he will wake up. Then you can see the results."

At that moment, Zane stood up and dusted himself off. Lloyd whimpered. "Why are his eyes red?"

I shrugged, although Lloyd couldn't see it. "It always happens."

Zane turned to my current body, and I stood up so I looked directly into his eyes. "What would you have me do, master?"

I smiled. "Just stay here and wait for my command."

Zane bowed, and when he stood up straight again, I was pleased to see his eyes were back to their original color. _My power has grown so much that I can control them without them showing it!_

I walked back around the crater, and crashed into the red ninja.

"Lloyd?" The ninja stood up and squinted at me. "Are you okay?"

I smiled again. "I'm fine."_ More than fine._

**Hey, just a shout out, does anyone wanna beta-read this thing? **

**Hoped you liked this chapter! Check out my new story!**

**Cookie score:**

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**No one got the riddle. The quote was from the movie, "Holiday Inn".**

**"Red! I feel my soul on fire!" **


	17. Head Wound

**Sorry for the late update!**

Kai's POV

"He's not there, Cole!" I sprinted back to the earth ninja, who was shouting out orders from his mech.

Cole chewed his lip, a habit I'd noticed recently. "That kid," he grumbled. "First Zane, then him." He knocked aside another pile with the arm of his mech.

"I'll go search behind the crater," I offered, trying to hide my panting._ It seems all my physical strength and stamina vanished overnight!_ Cole nodded absently, and I turned away.

Nya walked over to me. "Want me to come?"

I shook my head. "No, you can keep looking for Zane," I told her.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself!"

As Nya walked away, I continued my course towards the smoking remains. As I neared the site, the full extent of the blast could be seen. A huge crater had formed in the wake of the explosion. My techno-blade weighed heavily on my back, and I, not for the first time, contemplated on throwing it into the crater. _'Mr. Borg said to protect them with our lives._' Cole's words rang through my head.

I picked my way through the wreckage. "Lloyd?" I cursed as I smashed my foot into a metal column. _How did that survive the blast?_ "L- Lloyd?" A strange beeping startled me, and I cocked my head. "Zane?" I increased my speed, and dashed to the other side of the deep hole.

"Ow!" A very spiteful Lloyd stumbled into me. I was thrown backward, and collided with yet another column. _Must be my lucky day..._ Stars swam in my eyes for several seconds. I groggily stood and squinted at the little green ninja.

"Are you okay?" I asked, praying desperately that he'd snapped out of his earlier mood.

"I'm fine," he replied, a strange grin crossing his pale face. "What are you doing here?"

"Cole sent me to look for you," I explained hastily. "Where have you been? What have you been doing?"

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "Places, Stuff," he said vaguely, waving his hand around.

"Can you be more specific?" I pressed.

"Behind the building, looking around," he replied. His voice carried a dangerous tone, and I quickly stopped my interrogation. "Come on, let's get back to the others."

I studied him one second more. "Okay then," I acknowledged hesitantly. I blinked several times, but my vision still remained slightly blurred.

Lloyd walked past me, and I fell in step with him. Several times, I thought I caught him glancing at me with a strange glint in his eye, but I passed it as my wobbly sight. A huge black figure danced into my vision, growing increasingly larger.

"Kai! You found Lloyd!" When the figure spoke, my brain finally clicked and I recognized the running person as Cole.

I squinted at the earth ninja. "Did you find Zane?"

"No, not yet," Cole sighed.

I rubbed my temple. "I need to sit down, Cole. My vision is blurred, and my head aches."

"Go back to the others," suggested my leader kindly. He sounded very relieved now that the missing Golden Ninja had been found. "Lloyd and I can catch up."

I nodded my thanks, and immediately regretted the action. "Ooh, my head," I groaned.

Cole nudged me forward with his mech-arm, and I stumbled back to to the blue ninja.

Jay was waiting for me back near our makeshift camp. "Kai! You al'right?" he squeaked in a high-pitched voice.

"My head hurts," I whined pitifully. I put my small hand up to my welt, and was horrified to bring it back. _It's drenched in blood!_ The world swam before my eyes once more, and I swooned and crumpled to the ground. _How hard did Lloyd hit me?_

Gentle hands lifted me, and I relaxed into their embrace. "It's okay," Nya said softly. She set me down into a cleared space, and I winced as my head thudded against the shattered concrete.

"Thank you Nya," I whispered quietly, raising my hand to brush it against her face. "You're the best..."

Nya pressed her cool lips to my head. "Now I can finally play the roll of big sister to you," she smiled.

I felt myself drifting off, the grimy face of my little sister illuminated by her radiant smile being my last conscious sight for a long time.

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**Alanshee got the quote, it was from Les Mis. **

**"No one knows what I suffer!"**


	18. Revelation

**Welcome back to Yesterday!**

Nya's POV

I could hardly bear the sight of Kai. His head was bandaged in the best way possible - considering our supplies - but blood still oozed slowly from the gash.

"How is he?" Cole peered worriedly over my shoulder.

I sighed. "I think it's only a shallow wound, despite all this blood."

Cole nodded slowly. I could almost see his mind whirling like gears, as he took in my words. "We need to move on. The mechs are returning in greater numbers. I can feel the shuddering of the earth." He looked from Kai to me, and then back to Kai. "Is he fit to be moved?" he asked softly.

"If he must be."

"Are you going to be able to carry him?"

"I..I think so," I replied hesitantly.

A low thumping sound started me, and I turned to see small shapes in the distance. As they came closer, I noticed with alarm that they were growing in speed and size.

"Mechs!" Cole jumped to his feet and climbed into his own mech. "Get Kai and Jay!"

"Lloyd's gone again!" Jay's high-pitched wail made my heart sink. _Why now, of all times?_

"We can't wait for him! We need to get out of here!" Cole turned and began sprinting away from the approaching line of doom.

I picked up Kai and held his small frame to my chest. "Jay, you keep running. Don't look back."

Jay nodded fervently. He took my hand in his own. "Let's do this," he whispered.

A beam of red light whizzed past my ear, and I exploded into a full-out run. Kai's head bounced up and down on my shoulder, and he moaned quietly. Sticky liquid seeped down my arm and into my dress. With a start, I realized that the mechs were close enough for me to feel the ground shaking with each footfall. I pushed myself harder, finding one last burst of speed. Jay was stumbling on the rubble as I not-so-nimbly weaved through it.

"Nya! I can't go any farther!" Jay's sweaty palm slipped out of my own. He fell to his knees and gasped. "I need to rest," he said.

My eyes darted around the piles of wreckage even as he spoke. "Can you cling to my back?"

Jay looked up at me with confusion swinging through his bright eyes. "I think so."

I knelt down, and he climbed up and clung onto my back like a frog. "Cole said he would wait for us by the crater. Let's try to all get there in one piece." I could barely see the edges of the dip, but it was doable. I started running again, but at a much more labored pace.

A jet made a screaming pass overhead, and I collapsed to the ground and threw my arms on top of my head. A wave of intense head rippled through the air as the bomb detonated. Kai groaned softly, and I noticed with fear that his wound was much worse.

Another strip of my dress. I bound it tightly across my brother's forehead and knotted it quickly. I beckoned Jay over. "Run. Don't look back. Find Cole and get out of here."

"What about you?" Jay's eyes were filled with trepidation.

I avoided the question. "Go now."

A tear dripped down his face, but he turned and dashed across the ruins.

I scooped Kai into my arms again, noticing for the first time the golden rod that was attacked to his back. A plan formed in my head. Hesitantly, I lay my brother down and removed the blade. _Techno blade... When Cole used it, he hacked a mech. If I can figure out how to use it..._ I swung the weapon around, letting myself get a sense of its weight.

**/SURRENDER THE TECHNO-BLADE AND YOU SHALL BE SPARED\\\**. I spun on the balls of my feet and found myself staring at a small group of mechs.

"What if I don't?" I asked, trying to act brave. My eyes darted to and fro, looking for a way to escape.

**/THEN YOU SHALL BE EXTERMINATED\\\\.** The robots flanked out around me in a circular formation.

_Can't go through, or under, or over_! I gripped the rod tighter in frustration. _Think, Nya! What would Samurai X do?_ The thought of my old alias brought a strange comfort to me. _Wait a minute..._

**/TAKE THE TECHNO-BLADE\\\\. **The commander, I could only presume, decided that he'd waited long enough. The mechs walked forward and raised their arms.

My mind was set. In one swift movement, I flung Kai onto my shoulder and jumped onto one of the robots. It paused for a single second, but that was all the time I needed. The sound of engines was faint, but my eyes could barely make out a small shape. With a flying leap, I landed on another mech's head. _Three, two, one... I_ flipped off and reached for the bottom of the overhead jet.

My hands found a hold after a moment of panic. After my feet were wedged into the fighter, I adjusted Kai and pulled the golden rod from my sash. To my delight, a translucent, red blade materialized. I sunk the weapon into the jet, and flames spread from the blade. A glass protecter appeared above us, and the fighter flipped over so I was in the newly formed cockpit.

I strapped Kai into a seat, and hurried to the control panels. After working with machines for a long time, it wasn't difficult to figure out the controls.

"Nya?" Kai moaned sluggishly. "Where am I?"

"Kai! You're awake!" I twisted my head around.

"How did we get here?" he asked, sounding much more aware.

"I'll explain later," I promised. "All you need to know now is that we are running from a bunch of machines intent on killing us."

I located Cole, and landed the jet next to the crater.

"Nya!" shouted Cole. He hurried over to my side, with Jay trailing behind him. "Do you have Kai?"

"Yes! He's awake," I announced jubilantly. "Not Lloyd, though," I added as a afterthought. I looked around at the little group. "Still no Zane?"

Cole's face remained solemn. "I haven't been able to find either of them," he admitted.

"Where could they be," I wondered out loud. "We've already looked all around this area!" I was about to continue, but a flash of green caught my eye.

"Lloyd?" Apparently, Cole had noticed it as well.

To our surprise, the little ninja strolled out from behind some rubble. He was a bit beaten up, but what really startled me was his eyes. The normal emerald color was darker, and the edges of his iris were rimmed in red. A strange feeling of déjà vu washed over me.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Cole asked. He took another step forward, but Lloyd held up his hand.

"Don't come any closer," he warned.

I started. _That voice!_ In contrast to Lloyd's usual light tone, this voice was much deeper and raspy. _I've heard that before..._

A lightbulb went off in my mind. _Oh no. It can't be._ As much as I wanted to tell myself that I was imagining things, I knew that it was real.

Cole stared at my stunned expression. I turned to look at him, still not fully recovered from my realization.

"What?" he asked.

My brain raced with crazy thoughts. I could barely choke out three simple words.

"It's the Overlord."

**Cliffie? Yep. So several new edits to the first chappie. I've got a beta, MadJo33. **

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**"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."**


	19. Escape from the city

**Hello fellow authors! Merry Christmas!**

Cole's POV

Panic flooded through my weary mind. _Overlord? But how?_ Now that I thought back, Lloyd had been acting strangely these past few hours.

The Overlord cackled. It was unnerving to hear such a venom-filled laugh coming from the tiny body of the Gold Ninja. "Thought I was gone for good?"

"How did you survive?" I demanded. Probably not the most essential question, I realized a bit belatedly, but it was the first one that came from my mouth.

"After the battle," the Overlord sneered, "I lay dormant in the earth. When that idiot Borg built his tower on to of me, I seized my chance."

"Where's Zane?" Jay stepped out from my shadow, and he glared at the blood-red eyes. "What have you done to him, Overlloyd?"

"Jay!" I growled, hating myself for running the name favorably through my head. "This is not the time!"

"Sorry," the lightning ninja apologized. He was not at all contrite. "It's catchy!"

"I did mention I changed myself into a virus, right?" The Overlloy- Overlord, I reminded myself -smiled, a sticky sweet smile.

"You didn't!" Jay gasped, and I could hear the panic in his voice.

Only now I realized that the faint tremors coursing through the ground underneath my feet had been growing stronger. A red light flashed in the corner of my eye, and a stack of rubble was blasted away.

I whirled to face my new enemy. A squadron of mechs advanced, and leading them was the battered body of Zane. His eyes glowed with red light, and some of the artificial skin that covered his face was missing.

"Zane!" I blurted. I glanced over him, and was sickened to see tangled wires sticking out of a hole where his arm should have been.

The white droid turned to face me, and a red beam shot from his eyes. I ducked too late.

"Species: Human." I looked up in surprise._ I'm not dead!_ "Threat Level: High." Zane finished his scan. The rest of the robots appeared to take orders from him, for they raised their guns at his last statement.

"Run!"

The command from Nya shook me to my senses. I tore my gaze away from the army and sprinted towards my mech.

"Exterminate them!"

Red flares whistled through the air, striking the ground near me. I took off in a flat-out run. Jay stumbled along beside me, failing at his attempts to keep up.

He stumbled and fell to the ground, and I skidded to a stop. _Should I wait for him?_

The little blue ninja jumped back to his feet. "Cole!" he shouted, stuffing something into his kimono.

My eyes followed his pointing finger until they settled on a Hovercopter. It zipped through the air before coming to a sudden stop overhead.

Jay scrambled up a particularly tall heap of busted bits. "Throw me!" he ordered.

"What?"

"Throw me!"

Hesitantly, I followed the lightning master. I scooped him up. "Are you sure about this?" I questioned.

A cross look descended upon Jay's face. "You wouldn't double-guess Zane," he whined.

"Ok then," I decided. With a mighty swing, I hurled him at the vehicle.

"Yahoo!" Jay shrieked. He pulled the golden saw from his back, and struck the side of the Hovercopter with the newly-formed blade. Lightning flashed over metal, and he disappeared from my sight.

I leapt down from the pile and continued to run, dodging bullets and bombs.

"We need to get out of the city!" Kai's high-pitched voice came over the intercom, and I breathed a sigh of relief. _He's okay._

"Uh, thanks Kai. I kinda noticed," came Jay's sarcastic response.

"Jay! This is not the time!"

A awful sound -a mixture of feedback and static- filled my ears as Nya wrestled the fire ninja from the microphone. "Calm down boys," she ordered. "I've already spoken with Sensei. He wants Cole to set the mech on auto-pilot. Take a long strip of fabric, roll it up, and tuck it inside."

"Why would we do that?" asked Jay.

"They want the techno-blades, right?"

"So we make it look like they're rolled inside the cloth! Brilliant!" I shouted, catching onto Sensei's plan.

"Guys, these robots are not dumb," reminded Jay. "They'll never believe it if there's no driver!"

"Hmm," I mused, somersaulting out of the path of a laser. "I'll drive it to that intersection place. When I get there, I'll jump out of the mech. Chances are they'll continue to follow it."

"I'll fly under there and catch you," Nya finished.

"See you there!" I cried. With a jerk of my hand, the machine braked to a stop. I spun around and headed back to the city. It was fairly easy to turn on the auto-pilot, and I quickly programmed a course.

The streets were vacant, except for the occasional frightened person or a lone mech or two. I snatched a banner off a shop front, rolled it up, and relaxed my grip on the controls. The intersection was several minutes away, and the emptiness of the sidewalks lured me into a false sense of security. That was a major mistake.

A flash of white barreled into me, and I almost fell over. More robots appeared out of the alleyway. The white figure stood up and shot a laser from his hand.

"Woah!" I shouted, jumping out of the way. "When did you get that, Frosty?"

"I do not understand." said Zane, tilting his head to one side. A small flame of hope flared inside me. _Zane might still be in there! That's how he acted when I first met him!_ That spark vanished, however, when the former ice ninja continued talking.

"You must be exterminated," he droned.

The other droids shot a hail of laser bullets at me, and it took all my concentration and ninja skills to avoid them.

Nya's voice crackled in my ear. "Cole? Where are you?"

"Little...tied...up at the moment!" I grunted, spinning away from a near-collision with another mech.

"Cole! Duck!"

After years of training with the other ninja, I didn't hesitate to obey. Mere seconds after I summersaulted away from the group, a explosion rocked the ground.

I didn't look back. The Hovercopter swooped low overhead, and I could hear Jay's whoops both through the intercom and the metal siding of the chopper.

Minutes later, I dashed into the middle of the junction. Robots pounded hard after me. "Nya! Are you there?"

I jumped up onto the roof of a nearby shop, the mechs copying my movements. "Nya, now would be a really great time!"

Finally, Nya's staticky voice buzzed next to my ear. "I'm right here and ready, are you?"

"Yes!" I almost shouted. The roof's end loomed directly in front of me. I sucked in a deep breath. A quick glimpse of the red fighter was all I needed. I closed my eyes, and ejected myself from the mech.

**Sorry for the super late update! I hope you like this chapter!**

**This isn't a riddle, but more of a fun thing to do. Google it.**

**Why are fire trucks red?**


	20. Nindroids

**Welcome back to Yesterday!**

Garmadon's POV

"No weapons are allowed inside these premises," I said firmly.

The group made up of ninja, children, one robot, and a samurai looked at each other in dismay.

"But Cyrus Borg told us to protect them with our lives!" protested Cole. "How can we protect them if we can't see them?"

"Im sorry, but I will not tolerate weapons," I repeated. "After Lloyd cleansed me from the Devourer's venom, I swore a vow of peace." I glanced over the group, searching for my son. "Where is Lloyd, by the way?"

The earth ninja's posture immediately switched. His body went rigid and his grip on the golden chain tightened slightly.

"Mister Jay said he had gone to the dark side," a young boy from the ninjas' school informed.

"Hey-hey-hey!" yelped the lightning ninja, as Cole glared daggers into him. "It was the heat of the moment, okay?"

The black ninja heaved a sigh, and turned back to face me. "Lloyd has been possessed by the Overlord," he confirmed.

I could feel my eyes widen. _What? But how?_ I moaned quietly, running a hand through my hair. "How did this happen? You must tell me everything," I demanded. I gestured towards the open monastery door. "Leave your weapons with someone, and the rest of you can come in."

The ninja all shot looks at each other, nobody wanting to stay outside in the chilly weather. Finally, Nya huffed and stretched out her arms.

"I'll stay out and guard them," she said. "You boys go on inside."

The other team members handed her the weapons with expressions of gratitude, and followed me up the stairs.

I sent their students towards the training room where the other children would be, and glanced over at the robot. "What's that?"

"Her name's Pixal," Jay piped up. I couldn't locate him at first, before I felt a strong tug at the hem of my kimono. I looked down to find the lightning ninja standing beside me. "She's from Borg Industries. Don't worry-" he exclaimed, seeing how I was eying the android dangerously. "She's cool. I hacked her."

I accepted his explanation with a curt nod, before leading the team up a wide corridor.

"So what happened?" I asked.

"There's no use hiding it from you," Cole sighed. "The Overlord survived. He turned himself into a virus, and took over Borg Towers. Somehow, he possessed Lloyd."

"He hacked Zane," added Kai. "Along with a whole bunch of robots, jets, and helicopter-like things."

"Hovercopter," Jay automatically corrected. "And the Techno-blades are the only things that can destroy him!"

"So that's why we need to protect them," concluded Cole.

We entered my private chambers and I turned to the black ninja. "Why weren't you protecting him?" I accused, feeling my face heat up slightly. "You can't expect him to defend himself!"

Misako, who'd brought in tea for us, laid a calming hand on my shoulder. I started at the physical contact, but her deft fingers massaged some of the stress from my body. I drew a deep breath and forced myself to calm down.

Cole, on the other hand, was far from placid. "Oh, so it's all our fault? He can protect himself! He's the green ninja, for heavens sake!"

"Yeah, as everyone is so keen to remind us," Jay grumbled bitterly.

I opened my mouth to retort, but the fire ninja cut me off.

"Guys, is this what Zane would've wanted?"

The whole team fell silent and fixed their gazes on the floor.

"Zane's gone Kai," Cole said in a harsh whisper. "Did you see the state he was in? For all we know, he's become a pile of scrap metal."

"He was only hacked," Jay argued half-heartedly. "If we can find him, we can re-hack him with a techno-blade."

I moved away from the team, feeling like an intruder in their private conversation. "I swore a vow of peace, but I've never felt a more urgent need to fight. Why does he want Lloyd for?"

Misako looked as confused as I felt. "I don't know, but if theOverlord has our son, you will need to fight to get him back."

Our discussion was abruptly cut short by a loud yell. The ninja stopped talking and spun around to face the doorway.

"The techno-blades!" cried the lightning master. He dashed out of the room with Kai on his heels, but the still-adult earth ninja easily passed by them.

Kai cursed under his breath. "We totally forgot about Nya!"

I followed the elemental masters outside, where a girl was leading a dingy-looking captive from the forest and up the hill. The figure was bound up with ropes, and as the pair drew nearer, I identified the girl as Kai's sister.

"Nya!" he shouted, running down to join her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," came her reply. "And guess who I found!" She stepped out of the shadows of the trees, and the moon lit up her prisoner. Kai suddenly stopped sprinting and stared.

I studied the figure as well. He -or she- appeared to be dressed in white and silver, but it was hard to tell as a dark substance covered most of the body. I didn't recognize the person, but my companions did.

"Zane?" Jay asked in amazement. "Guys, it's Zane!"

"I see that Sparky," Cole grumbled in annoyance, but he couldn't hide the relieved grin which spread across his face. Watching the black ninja, I could almost see a great weight being lifted from his shoulders.

The siblings dragged the struggling captive up the remaining ground. They laid him on the grass. I stared at the droid in surprise. He was almost unrecognizable, and I could only tell that it was Zane because of his father's symbol on his chest.

Cole rolled the white ninja onto his back, and a pair of red eyes glared up at me. Still, he remained silent.

"How did you find him, sis?"

"He stole the techno-blades from me," Nya admitted. "But I caught up to him and captured him."

"Good job, Nya," Cole said absently. He took a long golden chain from the girl, and a green blade appeared on one end. He held it out in front of him as he approached the sullen nindroid.

"Wait," I protested. "No wea-"

"Relax," Jay told me. He grabbed my robes again. "Ain't a weapon, only hacks into things. These are the a techno-blades," he added, waving his free hand at the three golden objects strewn on the grass.

I watched dubiously as the black ninja swung his blade. The tip sunk into the robot's head, and the pair of them were surrounded by a green mist. When it cleared, I could see Cole untying the ice ninja and helping him off the ground.

"Cole?" he asked weakly. "Where are we? Why was I tied up? Are you okay?" A panicked gleam entered his tired blue eyes. "The Overlord is back and he has Lloyd!"

"We know, Zane," Cole reassured him. "We're at Sensei Garmadon's Monastery. You were hacked by the Overlord."

The robot caught sight of something behind me, and his face lit up. "Pixal! You're safe!"

"Jay hacked her and brought her with us," Kai explained.

"Zane!" screamed the lightning ninja, unable to hold himself any longer. "I'm so glad you're back! I have your arm," he added in excitement, whipping the appendage from his kimono.

Zane reached down and accepted it with a look of appreciation, and I withheld several chuckles as the earth ninja gawked at the arm.

"What?" he spluttered. "But where did you get that?"

Jay smirked at Cole. "I picked it up while we were running. Right before you threw me," he clarified.

Cole shook his head, before turning back to Zane. "What do you remember?" he pressed.

Zane blinked slowly. "Not much," he apologized. "Just hazy fragments." He closed his eyes in concentration.

"Why does he want my son?" I demanded.

"Lloyd's golden power is the only thing that can form a physical body strong enough to contain him."

"Do you know why Borg gave us these techno-blades, then?"

Zane nodded, cringing. "The techno-blades are the only things able to wipe the Overlord from the hard drive, for good."

The ninja glanced at the weapons with new appreciation. Then the robot gasped.

"What's the matter?" Kai asked. "Zane?"

The white ninja looked around the clearing carefully. "I didn't come alone," he revealed.

The white ninja looked around the clearing carefully. "I didn't come alone," he revealed.

"What?" Jay panicked. "Who's with you?"

Zane stopped scanning the forest to lock gazes with the little ninja.

"Nindroids."

**I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! Thank you all for your kind reviews!**

**I've decided to go back to riddles. You will be able to find the answers on-line, of course, but try to figure it out before you go searching!**

**Who makes it, has no need of it.  
Who buys it, has no use for it.  
Who uses it can neither see nor feel it.  
What is it?**

**Cookie Score:**

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**NAJ: (::)**

**Golden Sea Authors: (::)**

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**FanFicGirl10987: (::)**

**Randomnessgirl: (::)**

**Wafflestheninja: (::)**


	21. Announcement

**HELP WANTED**

**One of my friends on tumblr (agendermoron) is creating a Ninjago RPG fan game (Ao Oni crossover). She needs as much help as possible.**

**Positions needed:**

_**Programmers (we really need you guys!)**_

_**Voice actors for Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Wu, Garmadon, and Misako.**_

**If you're interested, please pm me. Also message me if you have questions about the game. Your help would be great!**

**My email is .verbis **

**I WILL UPDATE SOON**


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